Forks: Rewritten
by dezagirl
Summary: Several stories were active in the little town of Forks. These stories were soon to be intertwined. Names float around in these; Jacob, Leah, Bella. Some of these stories are made of bitterness; some of love; most have hope.
1. Chapter 1

Forks: Rewritten

A/N- I'm sorry. Shoot me. Please. First, I apologize for the ridiculously cliche title. I had no working title while I was writing this, so...yeah. Any suggestions for a new title are welcome.

Let me first say that yes, I am anti-Twilight. I don't like the book and I think the characterization is, at best, two-dimensional. I took it to myself to make Twilight, well, better. This is a story rewrite completely. It starts with the first book, Twilight. The characters are about the only thing that stays the same- events are rewritten, dropped, and omitted almost completely. Some things that take place in, say, Eclipse, will happen much earlier. Plot mauling is rampant. Some events are still here- key word is some. Because of this, you needn't of read the Twilight books to read this. Thanks. I also apologize for what will come. Comment with criticism or other things. Warning: mild language in later chapters. This is the shortest- and personally, my least favorite- chapter in the story. Be warned. It Gets Better.

Edit: Chapter dividers re-added. Again. I apologize for the inconvenience. I originally had dashes as chapter dividers, but apparently that won't work. So, instead, enjoy the periods.

Chapter One- Junior year

"Jacob."

The teen swiveled around, only to be face-to-face with Billy, sitting in his wheelchair and looking like he wanted to say something. Then again, when did he _not _want to say something?

Jacob waited impatiently, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He wanted to leave. It was about to be his first day as a junior at Forks High. He wanted to go, _now_, not be waiting for Billy to say something wise and uplifting. However, he knew his wishes would not be granted when Billy opened his mouth and began speaking.

He was pleasantly surprised when all Billy did was grunt, "Have a good day".

He left his house, only to be greeted by an excited Quil. They both began walking the way to Forks High- it was somewhat of a tradition to walk to school the first day for them. While Jacob usually drove, this was an exception.

"Jacob," Quil said, a sideways smile on his face, "what's up?"

Jacob shrugged, not really knowing what to say. He finally replied with an off-handed "the usual" and continued walking. Quil looked mildly surprised at his curt reply but merely turned around and continued walking.

"So," he said with a smile still on his face, "plan on meeting any new girls this year?" followed by a suggestive wink.

Jacob rolled his eyes at Quil's immaturity. "No, Quil, I do not plan on 'meeting' any girls this year unless I imprint, and that's very doubtful." He shot a quick agitated look at the teen for good measure and continued. "But of course you're planning on 'meeting' girls, huh?" he said, still sounding annoyed. Quil just gave a quick hyena-like chuckle and continued walking.

"Hey, Jacob?" he said, his voice not as mirthful and happy as before. Jacob sighed and continued walking. "Yes?" he asked after a short pause.

"Why do we do this?" he asked.

Jacob looked over at him. "Do what?" he asked, a bit perplexed. "Do you mean walk to school on the first day?" Without waiting for a reply, he started speaking yet again. "Well, it's tradition," he said, a smile on his face. "The same reason people celebrate certain holidays, or, y'know, do stuff. It's tradition, and it's nice to have something you can do every once in a while, I guess."

Quil stared at Jacob with a void expression, and Jacob actually paled. Here was Quil, his upbeat friend, with one of the most unfriendly expressions he'd ever seen on his face. "No," he said slowly. "I mean _this_. Going to school. Through the motions. Why?"

"We're not skipping school, Quil," Jacob said, a small smile on his face. "I kind of want to see-"

"I'm not talking about skipping school, Jacob." Quil's voice had changed from his usual cheery one to a solemn tone, now.

Jacob's head turned around quickly to face Quil. How had this seemingly innocent and spontaneous conversation taken a completely different route in less than five minutes?

"Then what it is about?" he asked, startled by Quil's uncharacteristic coldness.

After a few more minutes, Quil seemed to have recovered. A halfhearted smile now covered his face. "Sorry," he apologized. "Didn't mean to jump you, man," he laughed. "I mean, why do we go to school? Or even do this 'normal' stuff?"

"What do you mean, _normal?_" Jacob asked, his eyes narrowing. "Do you mean human? Average? _What?_" Quil reddened in the face a bit and then finally began to talk.

"Don't say it like that, Jacob," he said, sounding annoyed- something else that surprised Jacob as well. "You know what I mean. We're freaking werewolves. If we wanted and kept on shifting to wolf form, we may very well live forever. Just like-"

"The bloodsuckers," Jacob spat out. Quil gave a disapproving look at the euphemism and sighed. "Like the vampires, I guess. But that's not what I'm saying." He gave a tired sigh and continued. "I mean, we could be doing other things besides this. But-"

"-we don't," Jacob finished lamely. "Because it's tradition."

Quil paused for a moment, thought about this, and sighed.

"I don't blame you, Jacob," he whispered.

Jacob winced inwardly at his friend's weak voice, at his demeanor, at everything Quil was at that moment. He felt pity for him, but he couldn't say he understood.

"Let's just...go to school," Jacob muttered.

They continued to walk.

...

If you had been in Forks High this particular morning, you would notice one of two things.

One of them was the fact that Jacob and Quil, two Native American-looking boys, were late for the first day of school and were arriving at about 8:30 instead of the preferred 8 o'clock sharp.

Two, the petite brunette Bella Swan was being carried unconscious to the office by a very annoyed looking Edward Cullen.

Most people would notice the second.

Jacob sputtered in surprise as he saw Bella Swan, childhood friend of his and Charlie's daughter, being carried to the office, passed out, and narrowed his eyes when he saw who was carrying her- one of the leeches.

"Isn't that-" Quil began.

"-Bella," Jacob offered quietly.

"She-...Didn't she- move in with her mom? Renee, right?" Quil asked, confused. He wasn't really shocked nor worried about this. He was worried about Jacob. While he couldn't quite put his finger on why, Jacob's face when he saw Bella portrayed a mixture of emotions.

He shook the thought out of his head and sighed. "Whatever. Let's get to homeroom. I don't want to fail because you're ogling your new girlfriend." He laughed mischievously and took delight in Jacob's expression of disbelief and poorly hidden embarrassment. "Good God, Quil, she's passed out!-" he started, only to watch in a mixture of agitation and amusement as Quil shot down the hall.

"Whatever," he muttered under his breath. He followed Quil without reluctance.

After all, he didn't 'want to fail' either.

...

"I miss mom," Seth wailed piteously.

Leah sighed, trying hard not to feel agitated. Sue Clearwater had left days ago on 'important business matters', which was quickly detected as lie by Leah. Business matters? Ha! What sort of 'business matters' would Sue have as a grocery store clerk?

Leah had confronted her mother hours after her mother announced that she would be leaving 'for a while'. Seth had went to his bedroom to sleep; it was nine o'clock.

"Mom, what's really going on?" the shapeshifter asked, not really knowing if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Leah," her mother said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "it has something to do with the Quileute tribe as a whole. I can't give you the details. Just...I can't, okay?" An apologetic half-smile, sympathetic eyes that mimicked Leah's-

"You can't even tell me where you're _going, _Mom? Not even how long you'll be gone? Nothing?" Her voice was teetering on the edge of 'pleading' now.

"No. I can't. I told you that I'd be back in a few days. Maybe. I don't know, and I can't tell you. Trust me. _Please, _Leah." Her mother's eyes were now almost as pleading as Leah's voice was.

"You know what?" Leah hissed, anger suddenly flaring up inside of her. "If dad were still alive I'd think you were having an affair. Running off to god knows where-"

_Smack._

Leah held up her hand to her now flaming-with-pain cheek.

"But the fact of the matter is you're dad isn't alive, Leah. I'm not having an 'affair.' I'm not even going to go see some man. I'm doing something for the tribe-"

The teenage Quileute ran down the hall, only to run into her room and slam her door.

The morning afterward, Sue had left on a plane to Italy. Leah was furious and refused to talk to her mother the way there or the way back. Seth was miserable, and cried openly when his mother left on the plane. Leah did not. She merely stood there, stony-faced, as her mother left, leaving her and her brother alone.

A voice in the room shook Leah back to the present. "Leah, I _miss Mom,_" Seth repeated, this time with more urgency.

Leah sighed, fighting back the strange mixture of anger and sadness that welled inside of her.

"Yeah, Seth," she muttered, her voice now edged with bitterness. "Yeah, I miss her too."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A/N- Thanks to all my reviewers, including **brankel1**, **akira m** and **She-Wolf-Heiress**! The dividers on my previous chapter (Thanks for bringing that to my attention **akira m**!) were, well, killed by FF. Because of this I'll be using periods to separate sections (as apparently dashes and underscores don't work.) This chapter only has one section, and this could be good or bad, depending on your view. I've edited a lot of the plot in this story since I typed the first draft, not as much grammar as ideas. Some things have been added and some subtracted. Also, I just wanted to add that just because you're a Twilight fan doesn't mean you can't enjoy this story. As a matter of fact, you'd probably appreciate the break from some of the stuff you've read on here. *cough cough, Twila Da Gurl Who Wuz In Love Wif A Vampyr* (did I get that right? -shudder-). I appreciate sane Twilight fans and Antis and I love you guys! I just don't appreciate rabid Twilight fans trying to eat me... Well, thanks to all! Every review is another tool in my belt, so to speak. Criticism is welcome and reviews are loved. Cookies to all!

...

Tick-Tick-Tick...

Leah Clearwater was _pissed_.

While this wasn't rare for her, it was still a frightening sight to behold. Leah Clearwater was furious, upset, angry, and yet she couldn't help but bursting out laughing. Inside she wanted to strangle someone, preferably Seth, her younger brother. However, she couldn't help but feel amusement at the whole situation. Leah Clearwater, the freak of the tribe, the only female shape-shifter. She was wrong in many ways- bad temperament, not pleasant. She wasn't a good female, or whatever they expected her to be. But she was a good sister, and that was all that mattered.

_Bitter_, the people whispered. _Bitter, unlovable Leah_, they hissed into her ear.

But this wasn't about Leah.

This was about her dumb brother Seth. It was now four-o'clock, about an hour after school let out. She was let out after her brother was, and she had returned only to find a poorly-scrawled note in Seth's handwriting. _Gone to train with Jacob_, he had scrawled, and she had laughed despite her anger.

'Train'? More like 'play' and wrestle. She didn't like him hanging out with the tribe, even though she knew- she knew he was one of Them. She just-...It wasn't time for him. Not yet. It didn't matter that he was technically a shape shifter already.

She did not think it was time for him to begin going out with the tribe and officially becoming 'one of the guys'. Seth was all Leah had left. Emily had left a long time ago when Sam imprinted on her. The worst part? Leah couldn't blame either of them.

It wasn't Sam's fault, as much as it felt like it was. He had imprinted and turned into a monster- at least, that's how it seemed to Leah.. Nor Emily's. She was just trying to be polite, get Sam to leave. It hadn't worked. Exhibit A, the huge scar across Emily's face.

Leah wanted to protect Seth. He was hers. Not the tribe's, nor was he anyone besides hers. She was part of the tribe now, but that didn't mean he was. She fed him, took care of him, she was almost, _almost_ like a mother to him. Who had the right to take him away and put his life at risk?

She stood up, no longer laughing, and ran outside. She could hear laughing- but not from the forest. She looked around and saw Jacob coming towards_ her_ house, _her_ territory, with _he_r brother in tow. Seth was laughing and looking like, for lack of better words, a playful monkey, and Jacob looked mildly amused as well- he caught sight of Leah, her arms folded and looking angry, and chuckled.

"I think I found your brother," he said, smiling, as he met Leah in front of her house.

Seth wriggled and Jacob put him down, laughing. Seth pouted and sat down on the grass.

_Yup, _Leah thought. _Still a kid._

Jacob stared at Seth in a way that said, 'well?'. Seth pouted even more, if that was even possible, and stomped his way to inside the house. As soon as Seth had entered the house, Leah felt like blowing up and chewing Jacob out. So what if she had a temper? This guy- he deserved to be punched in the head and-

A chuckle.

She was no longer staring at Jacob. She was _glaring_ now, which only seemed to fuel his laughter. After what seemed like at least a minute of non-stop laughing from Jacob, he finally paused to look up at Leah yet again. He gave a final chuckle and wiped a tear of mirth from his eye.

"_Jacob_-" she began.

He smiled. "Sorry, Leah," he said in between laughs. "It wasn't my fault this time," he said, looking like he was trying hard not to begin laughing again, "honest. I was just hanging out in the woods, in my normal spot, when Seth came running up and tackled me. I almost crapped myself," he admitted.

Leah stared. He gave a teasing smile, which just incited her wrath more. Instead of choking him, however, she listened.

"Well, after I recovered from the shock of having a young shape shifter attack me from behind, I asked him why he was there. He told me he was bored and I told him you would be upset and that he should go home. He said he had left a note, told me what it said, and I carried him here with him wiggling and moving, trying to get out of my hold. He wanted to play."

Inside, Leah felt like the whole thing was a Catch-22. She probably seemed like a psycho and controlling sister, who didn't want her brother to have any fun, and would seem even more like one if she made Seth stay inside. But if anything happened to Seth while Mom was gone, and if she ever lost control and he stop listening-... Plus, if she allowed him to go out and play, she would be letting him know that he could get what he wanted by pouting, and-

"Leah?" Jacob said.

Leah looked at him with a look of mild annoyance. "Hm?" she grunted.

"Are you angry at me?" he asked, looking- was that irritated? After a moment's pause, she spoke. "No," she began, slowly. "I'm just upset that Seth ran off without telling me."

The silence was unbearable. Jacob was still watching her every move, staring at her, waiting for her to say something reasonable and not psycho-crazy. She knew it. She was thinking of saying something when he began to speak.

"I understand," he said. "He's- what- ten? And he's your responsibility now. You have to be his mom too, I guess. Not just a sister." He smiled and began to walk back towards the woods.

She stood there for a moment, feeling like the stupidest person in the world, and even angrier that she _didn't know why _she felt like such an idiot.

As the teen walked away, Leah called out. "Jacob, _stop_."

He turned around, an inquiring expression on his face. "Hm?" he said, looking faintly amused. Leah was suddenly aware of every sound- the leaves rustling, the wind sweeping across the land.

Leah sighed. "I'm going to go tell him he can come out now."

Jacob chuckled, and Leah felt like flinging something at him. Instead, she walked inside, retrieved Seth, and put a few dollars in his hand. That way he could get ice cream, or something. She knew that Jacob usually did that kind of stuff with Seth- well, didn't they? As they turned around and began to walk away, Jacob paused. Seth continued. Jacob turned around and spoke.

"Leah," Jacob said.

"_Yes_?" she asked, agitation lingering in her voice.

"Seth's like a little brother to me," he said. "He doesn't really have anyone to play with his age, y'know? So it's nice for him to hang out with me. He feels older. Cooler, or whatever. So don't think that he doesn't like you or anything."

She stood there for a moment and sighed.

"I'm trusting you with my brother, Jacob," she said, sounding irritated. "Don't screw it up."

He laughed and began walking with Seth next to him. Seth was chattering away- probably about school, what happened on the playground, in class, his newest grade.

Leah was still pissed. The worst part was that she knew her face wasn't red from anger; at least, not completely.

This pissed her off even more.

...

"Work! Stupid...gah!"

A very frustrated Embry was busy smacking his computer monitor. It hadn't been functioning for at least a few days; he needed to use it, and he wasn't a computer technician. While his somewhat minimal experience with cars had taught him that kicking and punching a non-working vehicle (or any object for that matter) was not going to fix it, he didn't care.

"EMBRY. WASSUP."

"Oh. Hey, Quil," Embry grumbled, rolling his eyes. So maybe Quil could fix it.

"Hey, can I use your computer?" Quil asked impatiently, rocking back on forth on his heels. Before Embry could reply, Quil had jumped in the computer seat, knocking Embry out of it. Embry suppressed a groan and instead watched with mild interest from the floor as his friend tried to get on the computer.

"What-" BANG- "the-" BANG- "hell-" BANG-BANG, "IS WRONG WITH THIS THING?" BANG!

So maybe Quil _couldn't _fix it.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three-

Of Vans and Vampires

A/N- This chapter's rather short for my tastes, which is why there's such a quick update. The next will be longer. Enjoy!

...

The school had stopped buzzing about Bella's faint a couple of days later. There were other things to buzz about, like Mike's new fling with some blond. However, Bella Swan would soon be the subject of gossip for weeks to come in this little town, when she was almost ran over by Tyler's van.

Edward Cullen, dazzling knight in shining armor, had saved her, and Carlisle was currently by her side, making sure she hadn't broken an ankle or crushed her face. It didn't look like either had happened.

Jacob had heard and promptly drove to the hospital. He first felt relieved that Bella hadn't broken anything. After that, he was relieved to know that Bella recognized him.

When he had walked in the room, Edward had glared and Bella's eyes had lit up. "Jake?" she asked, and he felt better than ever, because Bella hadn't just remembered him; she'd liked him and remembered his name as well- actually, her nickname for him. He smiled and shrugged, said something about hearing about her situation, and Bella had smiled. "Yeah, well," she said. "Tyler's been apologizing forever. It's kind of annoying, actually," she whispered. She then laughed.

Edward cocked an eyebrow at Jacob. Jacob felt like smacking him across the face, but realized that for a vampire, Edward was actually being considerably friendly. Jacob also took note of his golden eyes; he didn't drink human blood, then. For now, he would leave Edward alone.

Jacob shrugged in a way that was neither comforting nor angering to Edward. Edward sighed in relief and left the room. Jacob thought that Edward looked relieved to be rid of Bella- but, he resolved, most people didn't appreciate her non-stop conversing. She liked talking to people.

Jacob was still talking to her when Carlisle Cullen walked in and informed Bella that she could be discharged since she wasn't injured. Bella had smiled and told him 'thank you'. Once the doctor had exited the room, Jacob asked if she needed him to drive her home. She looked a little embarrassed and said something about how she had took the bus that day- not driven her truck, to save gas- and finally admitted that, yes, she did need a ride, and could he please?

He'd smiled with his wolfish grin and helped her inside his own truck, just like a gentleman. He asked if she wanted to be taken to Charlie's house. She gave him a 'yeah, duh' look and he just smiled and drove her to her house. He knew where Charlie Swan's house was- who didn't? He was pretty highly regarded in the community, and almost everyone knew him.

He opened his door, walked around to the side of his truck, and let Bella out. She smiled at him appreciatively. "Chivalry isn't dead, huh?" she laughed. He just smiled. "Yeah, well, that's my trademark. Politeness." She laughed even harder and he walked with her to her porch; he opened the door and watched as Bella retreated up the stairs. He couldn't help but note that she ignored Charlie, who was standing by the door concerned, a phone clutched in one hand.

"Mister Swan," he said.

A chuckle escaped Charlie's lips and he put down the phone. "Jacob," he laughed, "are you saying that you can't call me Charlie anymore?" Jacob smiled and gave Charlie a hug. "Still fishing, _Charlie_?" he asked jokingly. Charlie smiled wryly, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming more prominent as he did so. "Not as much, but yes," he answered. Jacob grinned in return. "That's great, Charlie."

"Do you talk to Bella much?" Charlie asked. Jacob noted that Charlie didn't seem like he was just trying to start a conversation- he was genuinely interested. "Well, no," he admitted. "This is actually the first time since school's started. We don't have any classes together- at least, I don't think so." He gave a small smile.

"Do you know, uh, an Edward?" Charlie asked, looking somewhat confused. Jacob sighed. _Bloodsucking leech, you mean, _he corrected. After a short pause, he spoke. "Yes, I do," he replied.

His expression must of shown his displeasure at the mention of Edward's name, because Charlie asked another question- "Do you not like him?" Jacob just smiled. "Oh, not that, Charlie," he said, a small smile on his face. "I just don't know him that well. I've just seen him around the past few years. He keeps to his own clique, or group, or whatever." He gave Charlie a reassuring smile. Charlie seemed put at ease. "Oh."

"Why do you ask?" Jacob inquired.

"She won't talk to me about school or homework," he said, seeming irritated. "She doesn't hardly talk to me at all. But I'll be sitting down here and she'll be upstairs talking to her friends about this Edward fellow." Charlie suddenly reddened, realizing his slip-up. "Not that I'm eaves-dropping or anything," he stammered. "She's just-"

"-really loud?" asked Jacob, laughing. Charlie smiled, looking tired. "I guess. Well, it's nice to see you, Jacob," Charlie said, smiling. "I hope I get to see you a lot more often."

Jacob's nose twitched and he peered around Charlie. "Uh, Charlie?" he said, looking concerned. "I think I smell something...uh, _burning_..."

Charlie's eyes snapped open and he swiveled around. "Oh my God," he said, sounding irritated. "I- the spaghetti sauce! I thought I could cook it-" he sighed.

Jacob just smiled. "Bye, Charlie," he said, chuckling. Charlie gave a warm 'good-bye' and muttered something about a fire extinguisher.

Jacob left the Swan residence feeling confused.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- New Alliances and Pretty Girls

A/N- I'm sorry. Seriously. Antis unite. whoo. I'm tired...

Also, big warning because second part of this chapter has an overwhelming amount of descriptions of someone's beauty. Like, so many that you may throw up. But if you made it through the Twilight series' continued descriptions of Edward's apparent beauty then I'm sure you can stomach it.

Edward Cullen was not pleased.

He had met a young brunette about his age at school, and had saved her life. He was beginning to feel like this was a mistake. She was asking questions, and Edward knew that soon she would find out that he was a vampire. While she wasn't a genius, she wasn't stupid either, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he sucked blood.

The golden eyes could be passed off as a mere odd genetic trait. And while he had carried Bella to the office with incredible speed and never had a hard time holding her up, people could pass it off as 'he's strong and fast'. Nothing odd about that. But he had saved her from a speeding van in a split-second. That would take incredible speed. People who didn't see it clearly, which consisted of about pretty much everyone there at the time besides Bella, couldn't really say anything about it because it was so unclear what happened- it all happened so fast.

But these three things together, plus the fact that he sat with only his family at lunch, was a secretive recluse, and shared the golden eyes with _every single Cullen_ would soon tip her off. Edward was secretly kind of shocked that no one had figured it out yet. He wondered absent-mindedly if all humans were as stupid as the ones at his school.

As he'd said before, Bella wasn't an idiot, but she wasn't a genius either. He found her attractive, but she could be annoying at times. In the back of his mind, a thought prodded at him- the thought that she idolized him, adored him, worshiped him. Many times he had caught her, out of the corner of his eye, staring at him lovingly, and with his hearing he could hear her gush to her friends about him.

He was curious to see what kind of family she had, so he went to her house as well- under cover, of course. He hid in her room and waited for her to fall asleep. Once she had, he picked up her diary. Of course, this wasn't moral- but he believed his soul was nonexistent anyway, so why bother with it? He had skimmed the pages, and was more than shocked to find that every page (the first one dated the first day at Forks High) had at least one mention of his name in it.

Simple motions like him glancing at her found their way to her diary, something he soon found out as he was reading it. He knew that teenage girls were very adamant about their crushes and liked them very much, but if this girl loved him-... He hadn't given her reason to love him, and he tried to convince himself that she did not. But still. If this girl _loved _him...

She could find out their secret. This was almost guaranteed. She would either tell everyone, beg to be a vampire, keep quiet and die in misery, or let it slip out.

Bella didn't seem like the type to blab to everyone about how he was a vampire, Edward thought. He hoped that she wouldn't beg to be a vampire, but seeing her feelings for him, it was probably the most likely out of the four choices. He didn't expect that Bella could do the third, and the fourth was probably very likely as well, if she did so by accident or purpose to a close friend.

He had put the diary back and exited as quickly as he had entered, with a new weight on his heart. He worried about their secret, and he knew that the Quiliete boy knew as well- Jacob was his name. While he could easily sense the boy's distrust and obvious dislike, he had acted pretty civil at the hospital- considering the fact that vampires and shape-shifters were apparently mortal enemies. Edward didn't have to read his thoughts, but he did- while there was the basic dislike, there weren't any threats to Edward's life, and apparently Jacob decided to leave Edward alone for the time being.

Edward had noticed that Jacob had seemed fairly fond of Bella, and this posed an obstacle. If Edward began to form feelings for Bella, of course Jacob would get in the way. However, this wasn't what Edward was worried about; it was mainly that Jacob would tell Bella...tell Bella that Edward, her dear Edward, was a vampire.

This frightened him.

Leah was self-conscious.

Not that 'she wasn't beautiful' or any of the bull the other teenage girls thought. Leah was conscious of every move she made that could be interpreted as 'girly' or feminine.

She did not consider herself beautiful. But what teenage girl did? However, she knew that when she walked, she would roll her shoulders in a certain way and walk in a graceful manner. She hated this, and whenever she realized she was doing this she stiffened her entire body and forced herself to walk upright, ramrod straight, and in a way that was reminiscent of a military general.

As she had blossomed into a 'young woman', some of the girls she got along with at school started asking her what mascara she used to get her eyelashes that long, what facial creme she used to get her skin so smooth, did she pluck her eyebrows?, so many things.

When Leah had looked at them in confusion they oohed and aahed about her 'pretty' wide brown eyes. Leah now tried to keep her eyes hard and focused, almost narrowed in a way. When they asked about her soft and lightly tanned skin, Leah tried to stay outside and darken to make it look worse. When they complimented her 'full lips', she made sure to keep them pursed and in no way full, but wide and thin. As they complimented her she tried to fix her purported 'beauty'. This never worked.

She would start to notice boys looking at her, giving her stupid smiles. In return, Leah wore hoodies and kept her head down. A few had asked her out. She muttered about getting something and left immediately. Some whistled. She kept her head down even lower.

She had transferred from La Push's own high school to Forks High when Billy said it would be good for her. Billy looked out for all the La Push teens, and she respected him. He said that a lot of her friends went to Forks High, and maybe she'd be more comfortable. Although she disagreed with him inwardly, she loved him like a grandfather and felt that he knew best, and so enrolled into Forks High. Due to some complications with the paperwork, she would be joining Forks High a few days after the first day of school.

She was a junior now. Or, at least, would be.

She stood in Forks High's parking lot, feeling very awkward as she shakily retrieved her keys from her pocket and locked her car. She stiffened her back, stood upright, pulled up her hoodie, put her keys in her pocket, and was ready to lower her head in the way she always did when a voice broke the silence.

She turned around, only to see the Cullens walking towards her.

She could be meek Leah, the one at school who didn't like anyone but kept to herself, or could be wolfy, real Leah, the Leah that didn't have to worry about what anyone else thought. The Leah that could be herself.

Since she was technically at school, she decided to be meek Leah and try to leave the parking lot to enter the high school. She began walking away quickly, only for yet another voice to break the silence, this one female.

"Wait!" the voice called out. She turned back around and lifted her head fully, as well as straightened up even more. She made sure to try and harden her eyes, make herself look tough; her face portrayed no emotion, and she stared with confidence at the girl.

She was smaller than Leah, but most people were. Leah noticed her pixie hair cut and her golden eyes, thus verifying that she was indeed a Cullen. Leah paused to notice that the other Cullens had left; all of them besides a blonde one, the girl with the pixie-cut, and the one Leah recognized as Edward.

The girl met her with the same icy stare Leah was giving. She was surprised at the small girl's confidence. Most people would be afraid of Leah; she could be intimidating at times. But here the girl was staring straight at her, and Leah noticed how much like herself the girl looked, now full of confidence.

Leah calculated the girl's moves all while being conscious of her own movements, as to not antagonize any of the vampires. She knew that if she was normal Leah and rude to them, they would take it as Leah trying to be offensive- being a werewolf, a shape-shifter, an enemy. So Leah decided to do what she never liked doing-

-she laughed, and afterwards she let her eyes become wide and crinkled with happiness, her lips become full, her shoulders roll, the smile stay in place.

The girl automatically laughed as well and gave a friendly smile. The blond behind her still looked apprehensive.

"My name's Alice," the girl said. "She's Rosalie and he's Edward. You're Leah, hm?" she said, a smile on her face.

"Yes," Leah replied. "And if you didn't already know, yes, I am a shape-shifter." Leah knew that the girl already could tell by her traits; all the shape shifters in La Push had the somewhat Native American traits. While Leah would never admit it to the tribe- especially Jacob, with his extreme dislike of vampires- she respected the Cullens somewhat for the fact that they resisted drinking human blood.

While she didn't like the fact that they were literal leeches, she knew the feeling of being someone you couldn't help being. She was born to be a shape-shifter and to turn into one later, to transform into the only female shape-shifter because of a deformity, to never be able to have children. The Cullens were vampires, all changed into them by other vampires, not making the choice themselves.

Leah did not want to continue a senseless rivalry and provoke them, so she chose friendliness.

"And we're vampires," Alice added, a small smile still on her face. "You don't seem as angry at us as the other shape-shifters."

Leah nodded. "I'm not," she said. "If I dislike you then I'll dislike you for being rude or inconsiderate or a snob, not for something you can't change. And you don't seem rude. Or inconsiderate. Or a snob."

"So we're friends?" Alice said, laughing afterwards.

Leah winced at the word. "Wouldn't say that, may flare up tribal anger or something. But I don't dislike you," she said, giving another smile afterwards. Edward looked at the other two Cullens and they both relaxed considerably. Leah was somewhat confused. It was like- he could tell them things without even, well, telling them. Maybe they just knew each other too well.

"Why are you here?" Leah asked. "You must have a reason to talk to me."

"Actually, yes," Alice said. "We haven't been planning this, mind you. But I just spotted you in the parking lot and- maybe you could help with a problem that Eddi here has."

Edward reddened at Alice's remark and Leah couldn't help but smirk. So even perfect Edward had a few things that irritated him, one of them being Alice's pet name for him. Good.

"I'm going to get to the point," Edward said, seeming agitated with Alice's continued chatter. "Jacob knows we're vampires. He doesn't like vampires. Jacob likes Bella. That means Jacob doesn't like me and does like Bella. Bella probably loves me-" Alice looked at him with disapproval for his frankness- "-and she may find out that I'm a vampire one way or another, but I'd prefer Jacob didn't tell her, but he probably will-"

"-and you think I can help," Leah finished lamely.

"More like hope," Rosalie said, finally speaking. Leah cringed as the girl finally spoke- she had been staring at Leah the entire time, probably criticizing her features. After all, the girl looked like a typical American beauty.

"I can't," Leah said in an apologetic way. "I'm sorry. Jacob and I aren't really close. At least, I don't think so. He hangs out with my little brother once in a while, and we talk, but that's it. Even if we were close, I couldn't control him. He does what he wants. Sorry," she said again.

Alice smiled in a sympathetic way. "It's no problem."

Leah sighed. "I don't think Jacob would do that though. Put- is it Bella?- put that girl's life at risk by telling her that. At least, not unless he thought she was in danger. But then again, Jacob's unpredictable. I don't know."

Rosalie was still staring at Leah. Leah did not like this at all. She did, however, feel much more at ease when the Cullens finally left, and she felt good about having a potential ally in this Alice girl- she seemed very pleasant.

"Did you _see_ her?" Rosalie whispered to Alice, although with the three vampires' sensitive hearing, it wouldn't help keeping the sentence from Edward's ears that much. Alice stared at Rosalie, and then said, "Of course I saw her. I was looking right at her. What do you mean?"

Rosalie looked at Alice. "Alice, didn't you see her _face_?" she said, sounded a little confused. "I mean, we all have exceptional sight. And I couldn't see a single flaw on her." She sounded disbelieving. "She wasn't just attractive by humans' standards, but by vampires' standards too-"

"Can you please spare me the lengthy descriptions of her face?" Edward said, sounding irritated. "We get it, Rosalie. I never knew you swung _that_ way-"

Rosalie glared at him, but Alice just laughed at Edward's uncharacteristic joke. While she knew that Edward was probably doing it to diffuse any possible tension that could be in the group, she still felt somewhat happy about the meeting.

After all, it wasn't every day that you got to meet someone as interesting as Leah Clearwater.

a/n- Oh my god. Dude. Seriously. This is the longest chapter I've written so far and it's pretty much everyone gushing about Leah's beauty while they're in a parking lot. Because of this crap I have to make a new chapter just to show Leah going into the high school. Oh god. I deserve to be shot. Please feel free. Why did I think this was a good idea? x_x


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- Alternate Title- A Ridiculously Overdue Chapter. Hope you like it...

Chapter Five-

Not Another Teen Display of Apathy

Leah walked into the high school with her hoodie on, trying to blend in.

This obviously was a fruitless effort. Leah was tall. Tall and blending in aren't two words that usually go together.

Heads turned as the 'new girl' walked in, and everyone began whispering. Already girls seemed to be glaring at her. Leah felt terrible.Thanks a lot, Billy. She hadn't been in the school for two minutes and already she felt like everyone hated her.

She had memorized all her information the nights before- her schedule, her locker number, and she was grateful for it. She made her way quickly to her locker, opened it, and grabbed her books before shutting it. She walked into homeroom-

-only to be met by the faces of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.

While Edward hadn't seemed too threatening when she and Alice had spoke, she still felt uneasy. And from what she could tell, Bella didn't seem very nice, either.

Her reaction was to mentally utter as many curses as she could. Out of the corner of her eyes as she made her way to sit down, she could see Edward looking somewhat surprised and looking at her. She found an empty seat next to a seemingly innocent boy and sat down. Thank God.

"Are you Leah Clearwater?" the teacher asked.

"Yes," Leah replied, careful not to stammer or stutter. She sat with her back straight up, her eyes looking at the teacher.

"Leah, why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" he said, a smile on his face.

Leah sighed, stood up from her seat, and made sure that her stare swept across every student in the class- she locked eyes with every single one of them as she spoke. "My name is Leah Clearwater," she spoke calmly. "I am from the La Push reservation. I transferred from the high school in the reservation. It's nice to meet you all," she added afterwards.

As she sat down, the students began talking amongst themselves. The teacher silenced them and began teaching. Leah felt relieved.

Her next class had another Cullen boy that she couldn't identify by first name. He was blond, and that was all she knew. She also spotted Quil.

Finally, lunch came around. As she made her way through the cafeteria with her tray, she watched as the student body stared at her with mild interest. She looked around for somewhere to sit. She spotted Jacob looking at her with a wolfish grin and resolved that she would sit with him and Quil. As she made her way to their table, she was still aware of her movements.

Jacob was still smiling at her when she sat down at their table. Quil was there as well, along with the Bella girl. A girl introduced herself as Amy and another said something. There were two boys as well; Mike and Tyler, and then a few that she couldn't be bothered with remembering. Bella was talking and everyone besides Jacob seemed enraptured by her story. They laughed at the appropriate moments and were extremely polite. Even Quil seemed interested.

Jacob was still looking at her, and finally he began speaking. "Hey, Leah," he said, sounding somewhat quizzical. "When did you get here?"

Leah mumbled out the story about Billy suggesting it and told him she had just arrived that day as well as explaining why. At the mention of Billy's suggestion, Jacob's eyes narrowed and Leah saw that he was thinking about it. After she'd finished mumbling out her explanation, he smiled. "Well. I see you've already made a few enemies," he said, chuckling, looking in the direction of behind Leah. Two girls were glaring at her and whispering frantically.

Leah gave a helpless look. "Jacob, I haven't even _talked to them_," she said exasperatedly. Jacob gave another laugh. "You sound miserable," he said, looking amused. She sighed. "I am. No one likes me. All day everyone's been staring at me like I'm a two-headed goat or something."

He smiled. "It just seems that way," he said. "It'll get better." He gave another grin before someone spoke.

"Who _are _you?" a female voice asked.

Leah turned her head slowly and realized that she had relaxed somewhat while talking to Jacob. Her eyes had softened and widened; as she turned she narrowed them. She looked at the girl-Bella. She thought seriously about saying something along the lines of 'I'm Jesus', but decided against the sarcastic reply.

"I'm Leah," she said. "I introduced myself in homeroom. And you are?" Leah added for good measure, although she already knew the answer.

"I'm Bella Swan," the girl said curtly. It seemed as if the girl seemed irritated by everyone in the lunch room. Leah immediately felt dislike for her. "I'm a friend of Jake's." _So you call him Jake_, Leah thought absently. "You might know me already, though," she said. "Almost everyone does." She gave a smile that seemed fake to Leah. Leah assumed it was supposed to be charming. Leah's face stayed stony, and the girl looked surprised - probably that Leah didn't seem charmed by the girl.

Leah turned around and began eating, only to be interrupted by the girl who'd introduced herself as Amy.

"Oh my God! Your eyelashes are so long! How do you get them like that?" she asked.

Leah's face flushed red and Jacob started laughing. Leah murmured a reply- they were natural- and Amy gave a smile and started talking to Leah. Leah listened, not really interested but eager to make more friends so that she wouldn't be eaten alive in high school. The girl talked about her clubs, activities, and drama, and Leah used body language to show she was interested. In between bites, she asked questions that launched Amy into another topic or more about the situation.

As Leah ate her large tray of food hungrily, she could see Bella staring at her large serving and felt, rare enough for Leah, embarrassed. What was worse was that the girl didn't even seem to try and hide her shock- she was staring straight at the tray in disbelief and what Leah perceived as poorly hidden disgust.

Leah looked up from her tray and diverted her attention away from Amy for a moment. Looking at Jacob, she shifted her eyes to Bella's quickly and then back down to her tray. She continued eating and listening to Amy.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Jacob said, giving a laugh afterwards. His own- larger- tray was on the table, almost finished. Bella looked up and said something that embarrassed Leah to no end.

"Nothing," she'd said, giving a small smile. "She's just eating a lot."

The entire table stopped their chatter and stared at Bella, who was still smiling. "Oh, I don't mean it rudely," she said, giving a reassuring smile in Leah's direction. "Just, how do you eat all that and stay skinny?"

Leah knew it was a poor attempt to mask the rudeness of her statement, but nevertheless replied in a calm fashion. "I exercise a lot," she said calmly. "After school I go to the gym, and I hike a lot. I need the energy."

The table was still quiet, but they seemed eased by Leah's calm reply. Suddenly the conversation continued when Amy said something about a new rumor- the teenagers' attention was enveloped now, and Leah made a show of watching Amy with interest and listening as she ate.

Once she finished her food and had drunk her water, she took it to the small window they put their trays at for the lunch ladies to wash and then returned to the table. When she got back, she diverted all her attention to Amy.

As she later traversed to the parking lot to leave the school, Jacob stopped her. "Leah?"

Leah turned around and did her best to try and look happy. "Yeah?" she asked.

"I don't think Bella meant it like that," he said, giving a small smile. "Y'know, just curious. I eat a lot too, but since I'm a guy, I guess she didn't-"

Leah's emotionless stare stopped Jacob halfway through his reassurance and shut him up.

"Because you're a guy," she said calmly. "And I'm a girl."

"Yeah," he said, seeming glad to have calmed down Leah. "Because, y'know, guys-"

"I'm a girl, but I'm not _supposed _to eat a lot." She stared at him until it finally sunk in.

"Leah, I didn't mean it like that," he pleaded. "I really-"

"I know you didn't," she interrupted. "But that doesn't negate the fact that I'm still a freak. I'm the only female shape shifter because I'm deformed. I'm mutated. My genes aren't right, get it?" She was still staring at him. "And I need the food just as much as any of the guys do because I'm still a shape shifter. It's like I'm not even a girl. I can't have children, I'm more like a guy than a girl- I'm not right."

"Leah. Don't-"

"And I know it," she finished. "I've known it for a while, and I don't blame Bella for staring at me like a freak, because I am one. That doesn't excuse her rude behavior, however," she continued. "There were better ways to say it but she didn't care, and she chose to be offensive. I'm not upset with you nor her staring at me. I'm upset because she didn't try and speak her mind in a less offensive way. She disregarded my emotions and was rude to me."

Leah calmly walked to her car, turned the key, and drove at a normal speed out of Forks High.

Once far enough away to be sure no one was watching, she stopped at an abandoned rest stop.

She then proceeded to cry for about fifteen minutes straight. She drove home afterwards.

Alice and Edward usually traveled home together. This was no exception. As Alice drove, she saw Edward wince. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Driving making you nervous?" She smiled.

He shook his head. "Sometimes...I really don't like being able to read minds."

Alice stared at him for a moment and then continued driving. She'd ask later.


End file.
